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Friday, September 30, 2016

Jem Reviewed: Episode 28 - The Talent Search, Part Two

Previously onJem Reviewed, Shana left the Holograms to work for a super diva
named Liz Stratton, prompting Jem and the Holograms to find a new drummer. The contest prompted the Misfits to recruit
a new member themselves in the form of British sax player, Jetta. Meanwhile, two semi-finalists have emerged
to join Jem and the Holograms; the shy but sweet Raya, and Craig, who seems to
have a crush on Aja. But when Raya
finds out that Jem is really Jerrica Benton, she's faced with a moral
dilemma...especially when Eric Raymond is promising her anything she wants if
she'll reveal who Jem really is.

Fortunately, as we begin Episode 28 - The Talent
Search, Part 2
- Raya decides that she can't betray Jem's confidence and walks out on
Eric. Of course, she didn't really tell
Eric to go flock himself. Rather, she
says that she'll think about it. Seems
like there's a fighter inside of Raya waiting to get out, but for now that
fighter remains dormant.

At
Starlight Music the following day, Jerrica, Kimber, and Aja are talking about
the big contest which will feature Raya and Craig in a drum duel to determine
which one will win the chance to join the Holograms.The three of them wonder what Shana would think of this and they decide
to invite her to the drum duel.Whoa...way
to rub salt in the wounds, ladies!No
wonder Shana has to be the sensitive one!

Okay, okay...I get that they are doing it to make Shana feel that she is still
a part of their family, which is sweet.
But when Jerrica tries to talk to Shana on the phone, Shana is so busy
with trying to satisfy Ms. Stratton's eight hundred demands that Shana
unintentionally blows her off. Jerrica
shrugs her shoulders and tells Kimber and Aja that she's vurry busy, not
realizing just how much hell Shana is in.

And before you can say "The Devil Wears Prada", Liz Stratton is in
Shana's face about how her co-stars have better outfits than her, and she rips
Shana's designs in half right in front of Shana's shocked face. Liz then tells Shana to make her look better
than everyone because she's Liz Stratton and she's much better than the peons
she works with. Okay, she doesn't
exactly say this, but you know that's what she's thinking. And Shana's thinking that she made the
biggest mistake of her life.

It's another reused song. This time,
it's "Show Me The Way", originally seen in Episode 7. I said before that there is nothing wrong
with the song, but that it lacked a little oomph. I still feel that way about the song, but Shana's confusion over
taking the dream job that turned into a nightmare, and trying to find a way to
come back to the Holograms definitely illustrates the meaning of the song very
well. So far the repeat songs seem to
have better videos for Season 2 as they did with Season 1.

Let's
peek into Misfits Music now, where the Misfits are giving Eric grief over being
unable to convince Raya to spill her guts about Jem. But Eric hasn't given up.
His next target is Craig Phillips, and Eric is determined to make Craig
talk.

Conveniently,
Craig happens to walk into the offices of Misfits Music with Stormer. And if the blue hair on both of them isn't
any clue to the real relationship between Craig and Stormer, I don't know what
else I can do. Turns out that Craig
Phillips is Stormer's older brother.
And Craig volunteers that Stormer's real name is Mary! Yeah, Mary Phillips sounds like either a
folk singer or a member of a Motown group.
No wonder she adopted the stage name of Stormer!

Naturally,
Eric makes the same offer to Craig that he did with Raya the night before, but
Craig instantly tells him to flock off.
And besides, it's not as if Craig even knows Jem's identity anyway.

But
here's where things start to get a little bit mean. And it's new recruit Jetta that seems to get the ball rolling
when she manages to convince Pizzazz and Roxy to tell Stormer that if she
doesn't convince big brother Craig to help them, they will kick her out of the
Misfits. That is really cold. Honestly, Stormer should probably tell them
to flock off too. But Stormer's self-worth
is almost at rock bottom levels, so Stormer pathetically begs Craig to help
Eric. Because Craig loves his sister,
he reluctantly agrees. Okay, I'm gonna
say it. I hate Jetta. I love the actress who plays her, but I hate
Jetta.

Craig's
plan to get Jem's identity involves him going on a date with Aja jogging
through a park, and it seems as though a love connection has been made between
them. Craig admits his feelings for
Aja, and Aja tells Craig that she hopes that he wins (which kind of sucks for
Raya), and they share a moment.

Aw...isn't
that sweet. Well, at least it's sweet
until Craig starts hitting Aja up about who Jem really is. Aja, who is fiercely loyal to her band,
naturally refuses to tell Craig anything, and Craig nearly tells Aja to flock
off - but Aja surprises Craig by being understanding about it, and gently tells
Craig that she made a promise to Jem that she would never tell and she has to
honour it. Craig's temper fades, and
his heart melts into much over Aja's integrity, and the two of them play tonsil
hockey as swans swim underneath the bridge they're on. It's melodramatic, but how often does Aja
even get screentime let alone a love interest?

Aja's
integrity and compassion makes Craig so happy that he runs back to Eric's
office and tells him to flock off, informing him that he will NEVER help him
discover Jem's identity. This angers
Eric who is back to square one, and he makes the decision to try and work with
Raya once more. But he knows that Raya
is difficult to read and that one false move will scare her off forever.

But wait. Leave it to nasty Jetta to
come up with an evil plan. We don't
exactly know what that plan is yet, but it involves a lot of dosh (slang
term for money in the UK). And Pizzazz
and Roxy get a kick out of the fact that Jetta gets the dosh by pickpocketing
Eric! Yep, Jetta's a Misfit, all right.

While
Jetta's evil wheels of scheming are turning in her head, Jem and the Holograms
are gathered around a crowd of eager voters to watch the drum duel between
Craig and Raya. But of course, we can't
have a drum duel without a song to play along with. And I'll tell you...this season, the songs are definitely better.

It's
hard to determine whether Craig or Raya did the better job, but one thing I can
say is that "Beat This" is one hell of a song! I think the thing that is awesome about this
song is that it could also be sang by the Misfits with its lyrical content, but
yet Jem and the Holograms make this song all their own. That's a credit to Britta Phillips who
definitely shows her talent here. So
far, the music is a major improvement over Season 1. I hope this trend continues.

The
way the contest works is that everyone is given a ballot. They vote on which person they want to see
win. To prevent cheating, Jerrica has
arranged to have an independent ballot counting service come in to count every
vote, and the person with the most votes wins.
It's impossible to know which person did the best...but given that one
of the two finalists was made into a doll and the other one wasn't - well, that
should be a BIG clue.

While
the drum duel is going on, Jetta is meeting with some unsavoury characters on a
deserted Los Angeles city street. Armed
with Eric's cash, she bribes a local gang to do a task for her. She gives half the money to the gang now,
and will give them the other half when they provide proof that they did the
job. Uh-oh...this doesn't sound good.

The
group breaks into Alonso Nurseries and armed with baseball bats and other
assorted weapons, the group completely trash the place. Windows are smashed, flowers are uprooted,
topiaries are kicked (hmm, maybe they're related to Rio), and saplings are
squashed. Ah, so that's Jetta's
horrible plan. Destroy Raya's father's
business and scare Raya into taking Eric's offer and revealing Jem's secret so
that she can repair the damages. It's
cold, calculating, cruel...essentially, it's all Jetta. I get the feeling that not even Pizzazz and
Roxy would be that heartless. And
Stormer would outright stop this madness before it began. Jetta's pure sociopath. No wonder Roxy was right to be concerned!

Oh,
and for proof of their destruction? One
of the creeps picks up a rare black orchid and tells the others that she'll
love it. I'm sure we'll NEVER SEE THAT
ORCHID EVER AGAIN.

Daylight
falls and the damage to Alonso Nurseries is severe. Everything is completely destroyed and Papa Alonso is heartbroken
over the loss of his plants. It's so
heartbreaking to see Papa Alonso so hurt, and it only intensifies my hate of
Jetta even more. Raya is upset and
remarks that it will take a lot of money to fix all the damage, and she
remembers Eric's offer. Despite her
brother trying to get Raya to stick around, Raya makes the decision to take
Eric's offer in hopes that he will pay her enough to fix the damage that Jetta
was ultimately responsible for.

And
I am only guessing that Stormer has no clue what Jetta did because her main
concern is getting Craig to find out who Jem is. I'm assuming that the pair are at Stormer's house, which is on a
nice quiet street and looks nice and cozy!
Craig is confused as to why Stormer is not only determined to find out
Jem's identity, but why Stormer would allow herself to be taken advantage of by
the Misfits in the first place. Finally! Craig asks the
question that we've been wondering the last 27 episodes! Why would Stormer continue to stay with a
band that treats her like garbage?
Craig doesn't understand why Stormer insists that she would be nothing
without the Misfits - but then when Stormer tells Craig that the Misfits will
throw her out of the group if Craig doesn't discover Jem's secret, his big
brother instincts kick in, and he storms out of Stormer's house in an anger
filled beeline towards Misfits Music!

Craig
arrives at Misfits Music just as Raya is inside Eric's office about to accept
Eric's deal. And Craig happens to
overhear everything about how Raya's father's business was vandalized and how
she needs the money to fix it, and he hears Eric tell Raya that he will help
her if she tells him who Jem is. Craig
also happens to notice that Jetta is in the room wearing a gigantic flower in
her hair. A flower that happens to look
like a black orchid. I wonder if Raya
has noticed...

You
remember how I said that Raya had a fighter inside of her just waiting to come
out? At the sight of the black orchid
in Jetta's hair, Raya instantly grabs the orchid and tries to yank Jetta's hair
right out of her head! Raya is
absolutely pissed, and by all rights she has every right to be! Jetta is screaming in pain, but Raya refuses
to let go until Jetta confesses that she was the one responsible for destroying
her family business. Jetta relents and
Raya shoves her into Pizzazz and Roxy!
Okay, whereas I completely hate Jetta, I absolutely LOVE Raya! This girl can stay! To add insult to injury, Roxy snaps at Jetta
that her plan was a failure!

Raya
spews even more anger at Eric, telling him that she almost betrayed Jem, but
after seeing what kind of a slimeball he is, she will NEVER help him and that
he can flock himself! She storms out of
the office and past Craig, who by this point is ready to tear Eric apart
himself!

Instead,
he grabs a desk lamp and physically wraps it around Eric's neck!!! Wow, Season 2 of Jem is more intense than
the last season! Don't worry though,
Craig doesn't kill Eric. But Eric is so
frightened by Craig's temper that he is willing to give Craig anything he
wants. What Craig wants is lots of
money. Money that he plans to use
towards the repairs for Alonso Nurseries.

Craig
then sets his fury towards Pizzazz, Roxy, and Jetta, and angrily lets them know
that he thinks that they are garbage and that Stormer can do much better than
them, but also knows how much being a Misfit means to her, so he won't do
anything yet. But he angrily tears a
Misfit poster to shreds and warns them that if they hurt her in any way,
they'll have to answer to him. Now, I
don't think Craig would wrap a lamp around their necks as he actually does seem
to respect women, but he has made it perfectly clear that he won't tolerate
their abuse. And with that, Craig
leaves the building, making it clear that the Misfits can flock themselves.

But
not before running into Stormer, and reassuring her that everything is okay and
that he has made sure that nothing bad will happen. Amusingly, Eric, Pizzazz, Roxy, and Jetta are hiding behind a
doorway when Craig and Stormer are having their final conversation. Who's big and bad now, Misfits?

So,
with that, Craig makes a decision.
Knowing that he will end up going against his own sister's band if he
wins the contest, he announces that he is taking his name out of the running,
which devastates Aja. Aja wants to know
where Craig is going. Amusingly, Craig
announces that he is going back to Europe where he can avoid conflict. And, how many wars began in Europe over the
last two thousand years? Aja is about
to cry, but she understands Craig's decision, and gives him her scarf to
remember her by. But Raya is less than
happy, as it means that she will only win the contest by default. But Craig's final words in this episode are
directed to Raya, and he tells her that she has so much talent and heart to
share with the world and that Jem and the Holograms can help her a lot better
than they can help him.

Okay, can we keep Craig and kill off Rio?
Please?

So,
with Craig officially out of the contest, it's time to find out who would have
won. And well...let's just say that
Craig's decision to quit wouldn't have changed the outcome. Raya is the true winner of the contest and
she officially becomes the newest member of Jem and the Holograms! And while everyone in the crowd cheers the
new line-up for Jem and the Holograms, Papa Alonso cheers the loudest! Aw...I love Papa Alonso!

So,
Raya is now a Hologram. And right about
this time, Shana is really regretting walking away. After Liz Stratton once more spews her venom at Shana, Shana
finally remembers that she has a backbone and promptly tells Liz Stratton to
flock off, to choke on her opinions, and to strangle herself with orange
scarves! And the newly unemployed Shana
discusses her future with Anthony Julien and how uncertain it is. Anthony reminds Shana that she can always go
back to the band, but Shana figures that they've already picked their new
drummer and that they have no use for her any more.

Well,
she's right about the band choosing the new drummer, and as the press is
interviewing Kimber and Aja about the contest, a representative for the ballot
counting company approaches Jem looking for Jerrica to pay them. Jem ducks behind a curtain to do her
"Show's Over, Synergy" spiel, but when Raya sees a couple of
journalists approaching the curtain, she rushes towards Jem and warns her not
to change! Raya redirects the
journalists to another area of the room and Jem gives Raya a "what the
flock are you talking about" look.

In
a secluded area, Raya reveals to Jem, Kimber, and Aja that she has known that
Jem is really Jerrica Benton for several days now, and that she almost sold her
secret to Eric Raymond after Jetta arranged for her family's greenhouse to be
destroyed. Aja stares in silence -
still likely upset about Craig not being chosen - but she seems supportive of
Raya. And Kimber isn't shocked that
Eric would go to such lengths. But Jem
is very proud of Raya for not sharing the secret and reassures Raya that they
made the right choice in adding her to the band. Kimber even expresses delight over introducing Raya to
Synergy! Raya's just thrilled to be
accepted by the band, and I'm thrilled that a character with as much heart as
Raya is here to stay.

But
when the Holograms return to Starlight Mansion and see Anthony's car parked
outside, they are very confused. Jem,
Kimber, and Aja ask Anthony what's up and Anthony basically tells them that
Shana told Liz Stratton to flock herself.
The girls are thrilled by the news because apparently schadenfreude
isn't a part of their vocabulary. But
also they're thrilled because Shana can now come back to the group. Anthony reminds them that they said that
they didn't need her, but they tell Anthony that they only said this so that
Shana wouldn't give up on an opportunity and that they really miss her, which
causes Shana to come out of hiding and have a happy reunion with the rest of
the band.

Sadly, Raya doesn't see this happy reunion as being all that good news for her,
and she comes to the conclusion that being a member of Jem and the Holograms
for an hour is the best she can hope for.
She quietly leaves Starlight Mansion and goes back home where she is
happy to hear that Papa Alonso received an anonymous donation from a friend to
fix the damage to the nurseries. I'll
bet that friend was a man with blue hair named Craig.

Raya is sad though because with Shana rejoining the band, she feels that they
don't need her any longer. So, imagine
Raya's surprise when Jem, Kimber, Aja, Shana, and Rio arrive with their musical
instruments telling Raya that if their drummer didn't want to go to Starlight Mansion
that they would come to her instead.
Jem is insistent that Raya stay on as their drummer because they like
her and she's talented and she can rip flowers out of Jetta's head...oh,
wait. They didn't see that part.

Raya
is still unconvinced, but it's Shana who really brings her into the fold,
saying that now that Raya is their drummer, Shana can play the instrument that
she wanted to play in the first place, so all is right with the world.

And what a fitting note that the last song of the episode is a song called
"All's Right With The World".
Again, the song is fantastic, and I really have to say that it's a nice
video. It welcomes Raya to the band,
and I particularly love the scene in which Shana is the one to pull Raya onto
the train, as if she's giving her seal of approval to the fifth Hologram.

Okay,
seriously, if this is how Season 2 begins, I'm kind of looking forward to the
rest of it. Raya is a fantastic
addition to the Holograms, and I think she could bring some fire to the band
that can sometimes seem bland. Jetta is
an evil witch of a character, but fits in with the Misfits very well. And it's nice to see some characters get
more of a background story, and the Stormer/Craig story arc was very well done. The music has definitely improved from last
season, and all things considered, this two-part episode has very little wrong
with it.

Oh,
and your Jem Trivia for today? Raya is voiced by Linda Dangcil, whose
biggest role prior to Jem was on "The Flying Nun". Sadly, Dangcil passed away in 2009 at the
age of 67 from throat cancer.

Next
week, one of the Holograms in embroiled in a scandal! But, which one?